puppets

IndyFringe: Dragons and Dungeons – Squid Game

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This was part of the 20th Anniversary Indy Fringe Theatre Festival in August 2025. Review originally posted on our Facebook page.

By Wendy Carson

Theater Unchained once again brings us a new chapter in their beloved tales of a group of adventurers headquartered out of The Folded Ass Tavern.

It’s their young dragon, Rapture’s “Gotcha Day” and everyone’s gathered to celebrate.

For newer patrons, we have some quick backstory and reintroduction of our gang, by the tavern’s owner. They include his brother, Tink, the Artificer; Fig, the Druid; Seren the Paladin; and Crabitha, the Wizard who’s somehow grown a second mustache.

After a minor mishap, Rapture is magically taken aways and we find that Crabitha is actually the evil Collector, and they must play their twisted “Squid Games” to get Rapture back.

The audience assists our troupe by rolling a giant die but some other members were granted the ability to modify or negate their efforts. Good luck to all.

The characters, challenges, and situations are fun for all but be warned, not everything always ends well. We made some very good rolls at first and though our team won the games, not everyone survived.

I really enjoyed the puppetry throughout plus the fact that the cast & crew were all having as much fun throughout as the audience. The whole hour feels more like a party than a show.

IndyFringe: Out With It

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This was part of the 20th Anniversary Indy Fringe Theatre Festival in August 2025. Review originally posted on our Facebook page.

By Wendy Carson

A few months ago, I was complaining to my cohort, John, that we have had a dearth of Clowning shows at the Fringe these past few years and I am delighted to say that this year made up for it greatly. The first one on my list to see was this delightful gem.

Embracing the “Found Objects” technique of puppetry, the show centers on a variety of collapsible fabric boxes and some red ribbon scraps to give us a hilarious trip into the absurd.

The show begins as you enter with our performer sweeping up scraps of red fabric and ribbons and putting them in the box center stage. Once she is done, she throws them into the entryway and puts the box behind the curtains. Then the mayhem begins.

Boxes of varying size keep appearing onstage and she keeps trying to gather them together and move them offstage. Once it looks like she will accomplish this feat, more red ribbon appears from various places to keep her from ever getting anything organized.

While this seems like a simplistic show, the various techniques used as well as some of the props, at one point the ribbon coalesces into a creature with a noticeable face, are wonderful. Plus, the performer is so skilled in her physicality, she makes the most intricate movements seem like nothing at all.

Created and performed by Rough House Puppet Arts Co-Artistic Director, Claire Saxe, with original music by Lia Kohl, and Movement Direction by Chihjou Cheng. Since the group is based in Chicago, it would be worth checking out their schedule and making an easy road trip to see one of their shows.

Being that they were one of the hottest tickets of the first weekend of Fringe, I hope that they may see fit to make an occasional foray back to Indy with some of their other shows.

IndyFringe: El Traje Nuevo Del Emperador

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This is part of the 20th Anniversary Indy Fringe Festival, Aug. 14-24, 2025, in downtown Indianapolis. For information and tickets, see indyfringe.org.

By John Lyle Belden

Now that it has completed its three-day visit to the Vision Loft space at IndyFringe, a few words – in English, please excuse me – about this wonderful piece of Teatro Juvenile:

Presented by Juan Francisco Ramos Aguilar of El Salvador, you are treated to a mask-and-puppet production of the fairy tale fable also known as “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” This story was popularized by Hans Christian Andersen, though its source can be traced back to Spain. Still, its familiarity helps us who don’t speak Spanish as our jester narrator/puppeteer does the show entirely en español, full speed, as though entertaining children in his own country.

That’s right, no English. Not a word. You must pay close attention to the flow and the words that sound familiar, as well as the broad hand gestures and other cues that young listeners rely on as they learn more of their own tongue. For me, this enriched the experience, pulling it out of literary cliché so that I can experience it like its intended audience. I welcomed the chance to stretch my poquito “Sesame Street” understanding of Spanish. The colorful masks, costumes, puppets, and décor further enhance the scene.

Aguilar is the parable-teaching Jester, as well as the Conman seeking oro (gold), as well as the old Prima Ministro who takes El Rey (the King) to see the alleged miracle fabric. At points, His Majesty approaches the audience, asking our opinions. It’s best – no matter what he says or how little you understand – to respond with an emphatic “Si” lest you arouse his royal bluster.

Around the midpoint of the story, the narrator also gives us a quick hand-puppet skit with Punch-and-Judy style characters.

The overall experience was fascinating, and for someone like me an immersive opportunity to follow another language. For those in the audience who could speak Spanish, it was good to have a live performance that appealed directly to them.

Hopefully, this show or something like it can make its way to our city again.

Nifty ‘nautical nonsense’ by Summer Stock Stage

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By John Lyle Belden

The very concept of “SpongeBob SquarePants” – conflating a living sea sponge with the rectangular kind from your kitchen – alerts you that none of this should be taken seriously (that, and its countless anthropomorphic absurdities).

But you likely know this, as the Nickelodeon animated series created by Stephen Hillenberg and voiced by comedian Tom Kenny has been entertaining children and childish adults for decades. Unsurprisingly, it also spawned a stage musical, now presented by the teen performer program of Summer Stock Stage at Schrott Center for the Arts on the Butler University campus, directed and choreographed by Jerico and Jonnie Hughes.

But can the quality silliness of the half-hour toon be sustained for two full acts of live theatre? To quote the familiar TV opening sequence: “Aye, Aye, Captain!”

However, Patchy the Pirate (Lucas Heiden) isn’t really needed for this show, despite how much he tries to get involved. With the traditional voiceover of a faux Cousteau, and the help of a just slightly off-stage foley artist (Ethan Cantrell), we meet our principal players: SpongeBob (Jaivean Wilson), Patrick (Taylor Smith), Squidward (Michael Washington), Sandy (Ariyana Johnson), Mr. Krabs (Simon Allen), his daughter Pearl (Madison Fleener), and Krabs’ devious rival Plankton (Lewis Claxon), accompanied by devoted AI partner Karen (Gracie Navarro).

The denizens of Bikini Bottom are played by Paige Murray (Mayor), Claire Kashman (Mrs. Puff), Ehren Knerr (Johnny the Bartender), Graham Bodkin (Perch Perkins), Eli Neal (Old Man Jenkins), Dexter Smith (Larry the Lobster), and Elijah Britt, Evan Cohen, Elowyn Dunn, Nayima Hall, Justice Harris, Eleanor Hendrickson, Seraphim Holmes, Shaleigh Hreskowsky, Henry Kirk, Jyone Kneeland, Isiah Littell, Collin McCune, Robert Newton, Quinn Potter, Vaben Sanders, Olivia Steele, and Keliyah Vincent.

Our tropical undersea village is shaken – literally – by the news that nearby volcano Mt. Humungous is about to erupt. Sandy – a genius inventor, as one would expect from a squirrel capable of living under the ocean – wants to tinker a way to stop the disaster. Plankton, on the other hand, persuades everyone that evacuation is the best option (which he will exploit in his newest evil scheme). Either way, they have until sundown of the next day, emphasized by a countdown clock projected above the stage, before their homes are destroyed.

What follows include a Krabs cash-grab; a benefit concert with The Electric Skates (Little, Steele, and Dexter Smith), with Squidward trying to work in his “Tentacle Spectacle;” Patrick receiving the cult-like devotion of a school of sardines; a Pirate musical number; SpongeBob’s climb to deliver Sandy’s Eruptor Interrupter; and general paranoia and mayhem, with boisterous gloating by Plankton.

This comes with plot-advancing pop songs by various artists including Jonathan Coulton, David Bowie with Brian Eno, Plain White T’s, T.I., Panic! At the Disco, Alex Ebert, Cyndi Lauper with Rob Hyman, Yolanda Adams, The Flaming Lips, Sara Bareilles, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry; Lady Antebellum, John Legend, They Might Be Giants, and Kenny with Andy Paley, as well as the SpongeBob Theme Song by Hillenburg, Derek Drymon, Mark Harrison and Blaise Smith.

One practically magical aspect of this production, which speaks to the talents of the cast, is that they so perfectly embody the spirit of their familiar characters, they “look” the part with just a few visual cues in hair and wardrobe, avoiding distracting and cumbersome outer costumes. Wilson practically glows with SpongeBob’s perpetual boyish optimism, Johnson with Sandy’s pragmatic can-do attitude. Taylor Smith’s Patrick nimbly employs voice and expression to capture the essence of his low-brains/high-loyalty personality. Likewise, Allen is spot-on in nailing the craven capitalist Krabs. With Fleener’s portrayal of Pearl, we see the show’s emphasis on her being a mildly spoiled teenage girl more than being a young whale. Washington expertly portrays Squidward in double-legged trousers with natural ease, including a dance with tentacle taps.

This approach to costuming especially works for Plankton; Claxon sometimes puppets his near-microscopic self, and his flashy green outfit with a (coincidental?) resemblance to Marvel’s Loki helps hint at his cooly sinister intent.

The overall style, from the musical’s book by Kyle Jarrow to the Hughes’s approach and cast and crew’s all-in energy give us a kids show that embraces that part in all of us that wants a fun time and adventure with characters who feel like friends.

This production “The SpongeBob Musical” only has the one weekend: If you see this right after we post, perhaps you can make it to the Saturday or Sunday (July 26-27) performances at Schrott, 610 W. 46th St., Indianapolis (next to Clowes). Info and tickets at summerstockstage.com.

A boy’s magical quest to save the seas

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By Wendy Carson and John Lyle Belden

Fonseca Theatre presents “Micah Meets a Mami Wata,” an adventure for children (of any age) by Prentiss Matthews III.

Micah (Phoenix Ray Warrior) is a very special boy. He recycles trash and shells from the seashore to make beautiful treasures, adores mermaids (and his special mermaid doll), and loves learning everything he can about the world around him. While his peers, as well as his dad (Josiah McCruiston), think he’s strange for this, his mother (Arika Casey), an ocean scientist, understands this uniqueness is just a part of his heritage.

After making a wish at his birthday party, which no one comes to, he encounters Emi (Makayla McElwain), a real Mami Wata (a mermaid in African lore). Finding himself under water but not drowning, he joins her in a spectacular adventure to heal the oceans. Along the way, they join Sticky, the comb jelly (Casey) and Brumbly, the horseshoe crab (McCruiston) and meet creatures and orishas (divine beings) played by Joshua Short, Empressnikia, and Ja’Taun Tiara.

This easy-to-follow children’s adventure not only takes on the unusual setting of the world’s oceans – from the reefs to the deep – but also tells its story from an Afro-Caribbean perspective. Micah is fascinated by the fact that the mami wata has the same dark skin tone as his. The plot also incorporates these cultures’ traditional use of cowrie shells as our heroes search for specific sacred ones.

In addition, we get a lesson on the dangers of pollution as a growing threat to us all. The production sets its example for environmental stewardship by making nearly all the props (by Jeanne Bowling) and puppets (designed by Beverly Roche and Lukas Felix Schooler) from discarded materials.

Fonseca producing director Jordan Flores Schwartz directs, with choreography by Casey.

Fun and enlightening – both in the mental sense and all the glowing “bioluminescence” effects – “Micah Meets a Mami Wata” has two more weekends, July 25-27 and Aug. 1-3, 7 p.m. Fridays, 4 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, at 2508 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis. Tickets and info at fonsecatheatre.org.

New ensemble makes a splash with true tale

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By John Lyle Belden

An incredible amount of local talent coalesced within the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre to present the first production of JoJoTomBilBen Theatricals, “The Magnificent Fall: Folding Napkins, Selecting Forks, and Other Death-Defying Feats,” based on the true story of Annie Edson Taylor, the first person to ride a barrel over Niagara Falls and survive.

Jolene Mentink Moffatt portrays Annie, joined on stage by John M. Goodson and Ben Asaykwee in various roles – these are the “Jo,” “Jo,” and “Ben” of the company. The play is directed by Bill Simmons (the “Bil”) and was written by Tom Horan (the “Tom,” of course), employing his style that examines history and legend with quirky humor and our tricky relationship with memory.

Goodson primarily portrays Annie’s talkative housecat, our principal narrator. Asaykwee’s roles include Mr. Carmichael, who makes the barrel, and Frank Russell, the carnival promoter who later makes off with it. Initially, his default mode is as the star pupil of Mrs. Taylor, who we meet as a teacher of Manners in a Bay City, Mich., school in 1900. This is one of many jobs and locales in this woman’s life (being a bit older than she’ll ever admit to), and she resolves to take her plunge into history at the Falls near Buffalo, N.Y., on her birthday in October 1901.

In fact, we are all Annie’s students, as there is a degree of audience participation.

Overall, this is a fascinating and entertaining examination of the process of achieving this “brash and irrational act” as well as what happens afterward, complete with whimsical elements – such as dueling mustaches – while relating the efforts of those who did not do so well at the Falls. The wild humor rolls with a serious undercurrent, the question of why this aging widow went through her daredevil phase. In this, perhaps the play’s title refers to more than just Niagara’s plummeting waters.

Moffatt’s charming portrayal is of an American woman of the turn of the (20th) century, seeing and seizing opportunity with a confidence that exaggerates her courage as it dashes ahead, like an object in roaring rapids, too fast for second thoughts to catch up. Goodson is appropriately catty, even when taking on a human role, and we even see his feline’s essential true role in the Niagara stunt. Asaykwee shines in his own way – not too brightly, though, with his knack for not stealing a scene in another’s story but always slyly enhancing it. Simmons’ subtle yet effective direction gives the narrative a genuine feel, and he says in his program note that there was collaboration with the actors, Horan, stage manager Erin Robson-Smith, and crew throughout to shape the final presentation. The show also features props and fine puppets by Emily Solt McGee.

For this and one more weekend, through July 20, you can see the “Queen of the Mist” and her various methods of folding napkins (and other feats) in “The Magnificent Fall” on the Basile Stage of the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre, 705 N. Illinois St., Indianapolis. Get tickets at phoenixtheatre.org.

This reviewer praises CCP young artist production

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By John Lyle Belden

Carmel Community Players presents the fantastical tale “This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing,” an internationally popular play for young actors and audiences by Finegan Kruckemeyer, the CCP Rising Star Production performing through this next Sunday at The Cat in Carmel.

Starting with a Grimm premise – a woodcutter father abandons his triplet daughters in the woods – we get a story with more whimsical adventure than grown-up reality, which works just fine in a work as entertaining as it is allegorical. A talented cast ages 13 to 18, directed by Amber K. Roth, keep the mood light with a fair number of laughs at the play’s little absurdities.

From the “once/twice/thrice upon a time” that they are born, the title characters are played – from girls to women – by Sydney Weitz as Albienne, the one who loves sweets and, seeing the abandonment as an opportunity, laughs and heads out towards the west; Maile Alpizar as Beatrix, the one who loves the sun and, resolving to find their Papa to understand what happened, dries her tears and heads out towards the east; and Vivienne Thibodeau as Carmen, the one who tends to carry the weight of the world for others, feels this is a perfect time to unshoulder the burden and make the most of where she is.

Events are described through with the aid of a cast of Narrators who also play supporting characters including various villagers, “Vickings,” and woodland creatures: Maggie Croddy, Lucy Cooper, Amelie Thibodeau, Emmy Bobenmoyer, Sophia Sweeney, Delaney McWilliams, and Corbin Cowles, whose roles include a romantic interest or two.

There is also a lighthouse with a perplexed keeper (Bobenmeyer), a sword, a cheeky badger (Cooper, who also plays Papa), some cherry trees, and a boombox, all in a triple-shot globe-circling journey that will somehow bring things back to where they began. The moral of the story is quoted on the cover, “Life is not for going back;” for the lessons, truly applicable to all ages, you need to see this for yourself.

Performances nicely carry the narrative forward with appropriate youthful energy. Weitz plays her character as one with an appetite not to consume for its own sake but to savor – even if it’s the thrills of a different vocation. Alpizar wears her freckles with pride, shining like an intrusive sunbeam into every situation. Vivienne Thibodeau aptly portrays the arc of an empath learning how much of a regard for others is too little, too much, and just right.

Roth is assisted by Student Dramaturg Anna Pfeiffer. Samantha Kelly is Stage Manager, assisted by Grace Kelly.

A jam-packed 75 minutes – not too much for the young, worth the ticket for the rest – follow “This Girl…” Thursday through Sunday at The Cat, 254, Veterans Way, downtown Carmel. Get tickets at carmelplayers.org or thecat.biz.

Mysterious forces at work in ‘Oak’ at Phoenix Theatre

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By John Lyle Belden

During the new Terry Guest drama “Oak” at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center, you could ask, what’s happening? The simple answer is that children and teenagers routinely disappear near Odella Creek, deep in rural Georgia, and have for generations. The query then follows: How? And why?

To learn the legend, we meet local youngsters Pickle (Jadah Rowan), her little brother Big Man (Joshua Short), and their cousin Suga (Tracy Nakigozi). They each know a version of the two-century-old story of Odella, a slave girl who, not long after giving birth, found an opportunity to escape – alone. It was believed that she drowned in the creek that now bears her name, near the old oak.

The implied question becomes, is this a simple horror story of a disturbed ghost, a vengeful spirit preying on children? Or is this something different – a cryptid, wild animals, or even a human predator? However, the question that we hear, announced over public address systems, is “Do you know where your children are?”

Pickle and Big Man get home after the 7 p.m. curfew, which only adds to the annoyance of their mother, Peaches (Psywrn Simone), who prepares for her shift at Krystal (a Southern burger chain similar to White Castle). The kids must stay at home after dark, at least until “snatching season” ends in July. On the radio, an urgent report states that this time, a white girl has disappeared.

Meanwhile, on the way to her house, Suga sees the glowing red eyes.

This chilling piece of Southern Gothic horror is a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. At each stop (this being the second between theatres in Florida and New York), the production takes on a different approach. For the Phoenix, Guest is joined by director Mikael Burke, who also worked on his “Magnolia Ballet” in 2022.

Conjuring the proper spooky atmosphere in a live performance is challenging, so the crew’s contributions are especially vital. The simple yet effective set design by Robert Koharchik, aided by lighting by Laura E. Glover and soundscape by Brian Grimm, put the action “in the round” with seating surrounding the floor of the black-box Basile stage. Aided by fog effects, well-played paranoia, and those “eyes,” the sense is not that we are surrounding the actors but that the setting has surrounded us with them.

Within this story is a memory best told as a fairy tale, “The Princess and the Wolf,” with excellent puppets by props artisan Kristin Renee Boyd.

Suspense grows, tempered with nervous humor – especially in the kids’ encounter with Simone as First Lady Temple, the shotgun-wielding old woman said to be the only survivor of whatever truly happens at Odella Creek.

Rowan, Short, and Nakigozi have not only the youthful look, but also deliver the right touch of childhood wonder, fear, and risk-taking appropriate to their young characters. Even at 16, Pickle still feels that childlike urge to believe what adults say is impossible – how else does she explain this world? With similar hopeful naivete, she and Suga feel that they will be safer if they move away to a big city.

Subtext is dense here, hanging thick as the moss around the stage or the Southern humidity you swear you can feel. The Black experience today and the burden of history are reflected in the horrors of Odella’s experience, the media’s different attitude towards a routine tragedy when inflicted on a white child, and an aspect of Paradise being where the taxis always stop for you. A reference to the Atlanta Ripper of the 1920s (an actual unsolved case) shows the history of public indifference when girls with dark skin vanish. The perils of escape – however it’s defined – are a constant motif.

We will get few answers here, and those received may haunt as much as those left unknown. Dare to find out what waits at the “Oak,” with performances through June 8 at 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at phoenixtheatre.org.

‘Omigosh,’ these kids are good

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By John Lyle Belden

When you see a comedy performed by kids, for kids, about a kids’ summer camp, you expect something, well, campy. With KidsPlay Inc.’s “Camp Omigosh,” by Wade Bradford, directed by Amy Studabaker, you get that and more, an experience one could say is out of this world.

KidsPlay (for those unfamiliar) is the Greenfield-based non-profit theatre program open to children in grades 3 to 8 (any school or homeschooled) who make up the entirety of the cast – learning stagecraft for free – while volunteer family and community members help in all aspects of the show.

The weirdness starts on the bus to camp, as Connor (Asher Ortman), who is also our Narrator, tries to make friends by swindling them. Tasha (Nora Smith) is not impressed, but somehow finds herself holding his hand in the long, dark tunnel to the campground.

Camp Omigosh itself, on the banks of Lake Whattheheck, turns out to be a dump. New owner Miss Warren (Molly Wallace) sets the activity schedule around the kids fixing the place up, which excites carpentry and engineering enthusiast Parker (Oliver Lederman). To assist, there are some deaf-mute girls from Sweden (Gigi Gunn, Callahan Horan, Kyndall Watkins) led by Ulah (Ellie Stearns).

Staff include Ms. Greenblatt (Kayte Reasoner) who combines her love of arts and crafts with being Camp Nurse; Coach Dunbom (Bella Latdrik), who views playing dodgeball as a life skill; Mr. Hobbes (Bennie Vaughn), who lives to dance; and the Starbucks-addicted bus driver, Ms. Finkle (Aria Studebaker).

Rich girl Kimberly (Abby Marler) thought she was going to an elite performing arts camp and is furious. The others all seem happy enough to be there, though, especially BFF’s Tessa and Vanessa (Josie McConnell and Essie Ortman), who seem to share both a brain and a passion for animals.

And what’s a summer camp without a ghost story? There have been sightings of a mysterious figure (Caroline Goldstein) – could it be the spirit long missing (and presumed dead) Billie Wilson? Why are campers’ personal objects floating away into the woods? Also, aren’t the Silent Swedes just a bit too creepy? Things just get spookier and weirder until our kids find themselves in a more complex and dangerous situation than any of them (or frankly, us in the audience) ever expected.

The cast also include – in various roles such as campers, aliens, and robots –  Audra Speicher, Vivian Goldstein, Tanner Pipkin, Trinity Bricker, Lilliana Grzelak, Sawyer Froman, Piper Grzelak, Elliott Holmes, Sydney Daniels, Quinn Felver, Harrison Studabaker, and Jack Joyner as the “First Contact Alien.”

Several also perform in the traditional KidsPlay opening dance number – a clever take on a “camp” classic – along with Evalynn Connelly, Tegan Keller, and Piper Orr.

The production is funny, entertaining, and a nice showcase of young talent. We are always impressed with even the younger actors who already show stage presence and range, like fourth-grader Lederman, or fifth-grader Marler in taking her arc from spoiled brat to feisty heroine (who, in a comic high-point, defeats… herself!).

The polish of experience starts to show with principal players such as Asher Ortman, Smith, the duo of Stearns and Essie Ortman, and those playing adults like Wallace, Latdrik, Aria Studebaker, Reasoner, Vaughn, and Joyner. The “Swedes” display quality clown/mime work, and we even get some puppetry with Daniels, Felver, and Harrison Studabaker.

This being the Spring Show, these are the final KidsPlay performances for the program “graduates,” eighth-graders who move on to high school stages and possible Young Artist opportunities in area theatres. This year, there are just Bella Latdrik and Jack Joyner. You know when you notice a young girl or boy on stage stealing scenes? That was these two in past KidsPlay productions. Here’s wishing them the best going forward.

Head out to “Camp Omigosh!” Performances are Friday through Sunday, May 2-4, at the H.J. Ricks Centre for the Arts, 122 W. Main St. (US 40) in downtown Greenfield. Get very affordable tickets at crazylakeacting.com or the box office.

‘Little Shop’ on IRT’s big stage

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By John Lyle Belden

The Indiana Repertory Theatre likes to have fun with its spring season closer, so, considering we just experienced “a total eclipse of the sun,” it is apropos that the IRT indulges in the popular musical, “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Originally a low-budget 1960 Roger Corman horror flick, “Little Shop” became an Off-Broadway hit with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken in 1982 (before they went on to Disney) and returned to the big screen, directed by Frank Oz, in 1986. Odds are, you know the story: Clumsy Seymour and bubbly but abused Audrey work for Mushnik’s Skid Row Florist where the young man reveals he has found a strange and unusual plant. With its macabre diet, Audrey II has a hunger that grows and grows, just like its fame and the plant itself, until its horrible plot is revealed!

If you are unfamiliar with this, by all means see it; if you’ve only seen the movie, note there are a couple of different songs and a more tragic, yet still entertaining, ending. There are also a few stylistic touches we haven’t seen in previous stage productions.

Directed by IRT Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director Benjamin Hanna, this show gets first-class treatment with scenic design by Czerton Lim, costumes by Izumi Inaba, and plant puppets by Matthew McAvene Creations, manipulated by Rob Johansen, as well as a backstage band, conducted by Andrew Bougoin or Teneh B.C. Karimu (depending on performance).

We get the doo-wop harmonies of the chorus of Tiffany Theona Taylor, Jessy Jackson and Raquelle Viteri; Dominique Lawson as appropriately miquetoast yet vocally strong Seymour; Lucy Maria Godinez as charmingly naïve Audrey; and IRT regular Ryan Artzberger as that mensch Mushnik. Kyle Patrick nimbly rolls from role to role including bums, the “semi-sadist” dentist Orin, and various customers and press who can’t get enough of that mysterious plant. Speaking of which, when “It talks!” that’s the voice of Allen Sledge.

For those who seek more meaning in the madness, check out program materials which point out this show’s connection to traditional tales like “Faust,” which does help explain its enduring popularity, aside – of course – from the giant trash-talking man-eating plant on stage.

What more can we say? A show like this tends to sell itself, but you have to make that call or click to get the tickets. Performances run through May 19 on the mainstage at 140 W. Washington in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. See irtlive.com.